Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Loses External Power for About 15 Hours Before Its Last Line Is Restored
KYIV — Ukraine's state nuclear company Energoatom and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed on November 8 that the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant lost its last working external power line in the early hours of that day and relied on emergency diesel generators for about 15 hours before external power was restored in the evening.
Energoatom said the plant's 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 transmission line disconnected at 02:36 on November 8, an automatic reconnection attempt failed, and the site switched entirely to backup diesel generators. The company counted the episode as the plant's 16th complete loss of off-site power since the start of 2026.
The IAEA said the cause and location of the disconnection were not yet known, and that the plant's other main supply line, Dniprovska, has been unavailable since October 23. The agency estimated that the site has fuel to run a limited number of emergency diesel generators for about two weeks. The Russian-installed plant management said automatic protection had disconnected the damaged line and that radiation levels remained normal while the generators ran without problems.
At 17:41 the same day, the repaired Ferosplavna-1 line was put back into operation, the plant again began receiving external power from Ukraine's grid, and the diesel generators were returned to standby. Zaporizhzhia is Europe's largest nuclear power plant; all six of its reactors are shut down, but its spent and core fuel still requires continuous power for cooling.
(Source: International Atomic Energy Agency)
Source: International Atomic Energy Agency
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：乌克兰扎波罗热核电站（资料照片）。Ralf1969 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine (file photo). Ralf1969, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
